Velingrad

Velingrad is a city in southern Bulgaria, Pazardzhik region and is the second largest in the region after the regional city of Pazardzhik with a population of 24,518 people as of the current address (March 15, 2016).[2] The city is the administrative center of Velingrad municipality. It was formed in 1948 by the merger of the villages of Ladzhene, Kamenitsa and Chepino. It is named after the communist partisan Vela Peeva.

The city has a mountainous climate. It is located in the European-continental climate area, on the border with the continental-Mediterranean area. Summer is cool and short-lived, and winter is mild and long. Rainfall is relatively little. In spring and early summer they are more abundant, in late summer and autumn it is drier. Snowfall is sufficient and the retention of the snow cover is long (up to 150 days). The snow cover is persistent and thick.